Bareilly: A fund of Rs. 2.18 crore has been sanctioned by the state government for the setting up of a library cum e-learning centers at seven district hospitals, including the one operating in Bareilly. The Diplomate of National Board (DNB) course is also being offered by these hospitals to students on completion of their under and postgraduate courses in medical sciences.

Dr.KS Gupta, Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS), Bareilly District Hospital, elaborating on the course said, “This course is equivalent to MD (doctor of medicine) and MS (master of science), which candidates have to undergo once they complete their MBBS. It was offered only in medical colleges till now but the government has now decided to run it in seven hospitals of the state. It was meant to run only at government medical colleges but since Bareilly does not have one, the government will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a private medical college here.”

The course is being conducted to overcome the crunch of specialists that government hospitals face at large across the state. “The candidates will undergo practical training at these hospitals under the guidance of senior doctors,” said Gupta.

He added, “We will send our proposal to the state government on Thursday for the library cum e-learning rooms here. The work will start keeping in mind the guidelines of the government. However, as the course is set to start from the next academic session beginning from April 2018, we have to complete all formalities before it.”

“A team of Medical Council of India (MCI) is slated to visit our hospital in December this year to check if we have the facilities needed for the course,” he told TOI.

Apart from Bareilly, similar centers will take shape in the district hospitals of Allahabad, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur, and Meerut.

Once DNB qualified a candidate will be in a position to treat his own family members and also be eligible to function as a junior consultant (specialist) in family medicine.